Pakistan-born English paceman Saqib Mahmood on Wednesday (September 25) revealed that he was labeled a "terrorist" after he failed to get a visa for the England Lions’ tour of India earlier this year.

The 22-year-old had to miss the England Lions tour in the January and face abuse on social media after he could not obtain a visa for India tour only because of his Pakistani heritage. His surprising revelation came after Mahmood was awarded maiden call up to England's Test and T20I squads for the upcoming tour of New Zealand in November.

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Mahmood told the BBC's Stumped, “All of a sudden I was being called a terrorist and I had not done anything wrong. People thought I was plotting something when I was going on a cricket tour. I was getting called not a lot of nice things, hence why I tried to forget about it all.”

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On maiden England call, the fast bowler said: “I knew the squad was being announced at two so all morning I was literally just staring at my phone waiting for it to ring. I ended up getting the call at twenty to two just as I thought the call was not coming.”

Mahmood signed off by saying, “He (England selector Ed Smith) told me I was in both squads and it was such a weird feeling. It was a great feeling - it was almost a too-good-to-be-true feeling. In the end, he asked me if I had any questions and I did not want to tell him that I had not heard a thing.”

(With BBC Inputs)